Thanks to the intelligence system established by Guo Jia, Sun Ce learned about the battle situation in Yanzhou a few days earlier than Liu Bei.

The Yellow Turbans of Qingzhou entered Bohai County last year and wanted to meet with the Heishan Army, but they were hit by Gongsun Zan heading and suffered a head-on blow, with more than 100,000 losses. The remaining troops retreated to Qingzhou under the leadership of Zhang Rao and Guan Hai and rested in Beihai County. Beihai is one of the bases of the Yellow Turbans. Kong Rong, the prime minister of Beihai, was also a scholar and was unable to fight. The Yellow Turbans soon gathered more than 800,000 people, claiming to be a million. They set off from Beihai, traveled westward, and passed through Qi and Jinan on the northern foot of Mount Tai, and rushed into Yanzhou. Liu Dai led the Jeju army to fight and died on the spot. The Jeju army was defeated, and the Yellow Turbans rushed into Jibei and blossomed from all sides.

Ge Sheng bravely went to Beihai, intending to form an alliance with the Qingzhou Yellow Turbans, but there was no news. Sun Ce now knows why, Guan Hai and Zhang Rao still want to advance westward and meet with the Heishan Army. They look down on him, Sun Ce, and they don’t want to go south. Now the flag is victorious, so I guess they are even more interested in paying attention to him. The base of the Heishan Army is in the Taihang Mountains, and there is danger to guard, and the mountain basin is enough for them to farm. They are happy and naturally have no interest in placing themselves under the roof.

Sun Ce expressed his understanding. It is natural for human nature. Who is born to be willing to listen to people's instructions? Historically, the Yellow Turbans of Qingzhou have always adhered to this strategy. They only defeated Gongsun Zan first and then Cao Cao. They had no choice but to surrender to Cao Cao and become a Qingzhou soldier. Now that Cao Cao is not in Yanzhou, their plan may be real.

Jian Yonggang said a few words, and Sun Ce understood what Liu Bei meant. Liu Dai died, and Liu Bei wanted to be the governor of Yanzhou. He wanted to replace Cao Cao, but did he have the ability?

Sun Ce and Guo Jia discussed. Guo Jia changed his previous attitude and thought it would be more appropriate to let Liu Bei go. Regardless of whether Liu Bei can defeat the Yellow Turbans or not, it would be beneficial to let him go to Yanzhou. First, we can successfully recover Xiaoxian and avoid siege. No matter how small Xiaoxian is, it is still a city, and there will be casualties in the siege. Secondly, Liu Bei's personality cannot be left behind for a long time. If he really defeats the Yellow Turbans and restores his strength, he will turn against Yuan Shao sooner or later. Finally, with Liu Bei in the middle, we will not have to face Yuan Shao in the short term, and have more time to manage Yuzhou, especially to defeat Chen Deng.

There is also an additional purpose. Although Liu Bei is stupid, he is somewhat brave, at least he is okay to deal with the Yellow Turbans. Let the Yellow Turbans suffer a little, know what the right choice is, and don’t be too self-righteous. Whether it is Gongsun Zan or Liu Bei, it is impossible to provide them with a better future, only we can.

Sun Ce felt it was reasonable, but he made a request.

"Liu Bei must hand over 4,000 Danyang soldiers and their families, otherwise there will be no talks."

Jian Yong shook his head. "The Danyang soldiers were recruited by my general, so how can we hand them over to the general? If the general insists on this requirement, we have no choice but to fight. Four thousand Danyang soldiers plus five thousand Jiyin County soldiers, fight to the death. I believe the general can't afford such losses."

Sun Ce couldn't help laughing loudly, and left, leaving Jian Yong there. Guo Jia also shook his sleeves and left. Jiang Gan didn't leave, laughing and shook his head, with a three-point sarcasm in his eyes. "Jian Yong, do you treat us as fools?"

Jian Yongqiang calmed down. "Don't dare."

"Aren't you thinking about retreating to Yanzhou? The governor of Yanzhou Liu Dai died in battle. Liu Bei wanted to steal Yanzhou, right? Don't rush to deny it. I'll tell you the truth. We have known for a long time. We not only know that Liu Dai died, but also who killed him. The Yellow Turban General Guan Hai was the one who surrounded Duchang last year, right? Last year you went to rescue Kong Rong and defeated him. It should be said that you still have some advantages over the Yellow Turban Army."

Jian Yong's face turned red and white, and he didn't know how to deal with it. He really didn't know who killed Liu Dai. Jiang Gan said it was Guan Hai, so there was indeed this possibility. The key was that Jiang Gan told them in one sentence, which made him feel guilty and felt like he was hiding nothing.

"At the beginning, General Sun suggested that Liu Bei go to Yanzhou, but he didn't listen and insisted on competing with General Sun. What was the result? A thousand cavalry disappeared in a blink of an eye. Now he wants to go to Yanzhou? Without General Sun's consent, can you leave Xiaoxian alive? Don't talk, wait until I finish speaking. Danyang soldiers were originally recruited by the envoy Tao. You know, how did they belong to Liu Bei? You know, and we know. Tao Ying is in our camp. Should you bring you to confront you?"

Jian Yong was robbed by Jiang Gan one after another, and his face turned red. He served as an envoy for Liu Bei many times, but he had never encountered such a difficult situation. He was dismissed and had no chance to fight back.

"Danyang soldiers are recruited soldiers. They only recognize money and grain, not people. Even Tao Envoy, the village party, doesn't care. Can they be loyal to Liu Bei? Do you believe it or not? We don't have to attack the city at all. As long as we surround each other for another month, the Danyang soldiers who have no military pay will cut off Liu Bei's head and surrender to it. You still refuse to give it to me. Do you think General Sun is greedy for these four thousand Danyang soldiers? Wrong! He is reducing the burden for Liu Bei, letting him go into battle lightly and seize Yanzhou."

Jian Yong was so amused and crying. If you took the army away, would you still have to thank you? You have told me all the truth, why would I say, accept my fate?

After receiving Sun Ce's reply, Liu Bei was silent for a long time. His miscellaneous Hu cavalry was completely wiped out by Sun Ce, and four thousand Danyang soldiers were cut by Sun Ce again. He now only had less than a thousand infantrymen. Returning to the liberation overnight, it was not as strong as when he had just arrived in Qingzhou.

"In this way, I'll have nothing." Liu Bei clenched his fists and said hoarsely. The strong muscles on his arms bulged, full of anger, but there was nowhere to vent.

"General, you can have Yanzhou." Jian Yong advised carefully: "You can also surrender the Yellow Turbans."

Liu Bei raised his hand and supported his forehead, preventing Jian Yong from seeing his tears. He had no choice but to accept Sun Ce's conditions. If he could retreat to Yanzhou safely, with the help of Yuan Yi and Yuan Xu, he would still have the chance to defeat the Yellow Turbans and accumulate strength again. If he did not accept Sun Ce's conditions, he would probably be trapped and died in Xiao County. As Jiang Gan said, he had no money to pay military salaries, and the four thousand Danyang soldiers might mutiny at any time, and he might cut off his head and surrender to Sun Ce.

There is no way, the soldiers recruited are just this kind of virtue. If you have money, they will work hard for you. If you don’t have money, they will take your life.

"Sun Ce is too sinister, we can't believe him." Liu Bei gritted his teeth and admitted the reality, although the reality was cruel. "Please contact Yuan Xu and ask them to send troops to support us. We are ready to break through and ready to set off at any time."

"Where is the Danyang soldiers?"

"Stay here, let them defend the city, confuse Sun Ce, and cover us up to break through."

Jian Yong breathed a sigh of relief. "Here."

Liu Bei blocked the news of the negotiations tightly, and sent Yuan Xu to urgently contact Yuan Yi and Bao Xin and asked them to send troops to help him, so as not to change his mind and cut him directly. A few days later, Bao Xin, the prime minister of Jibei who acted as the governor of Yanzhou, sent the news. He had already sent the provincial official Wan Qian to lead 10,000 soldiers to the Yanzhou border to respond. He asked Liu Bei and Yuan Xu to evacuate as soon as possible. The Yellow Turban attacked very tightly, so they could not delay here for too long.
Chapter completed!